Side By Side
by CrazyIsTheClue
Summary: Arthur always tells Merlin to stay behind...what if Merlin actually obeys him for once...? Is that really what the prince of Camelot wants?    one shot...sort of :D


**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Merlin, BBC does…well they own the TV show, as a part of the Arthurian legend Merlin is…erm…anyways I just own my storyline here :D

**Story Notes: **This is just a short drabble that came up when I got bored during the bus ride home…

I think it can be seen as slash or as friendship whichever you prefer…

Enjoy :D

* * *

"Gaius! GAIUS! GAAIUS! Where's Merlin?" the old physician could hear the calling of the young royal all the way over through the hallway, even before he burst through the door with an overly concerned expression.

"Sire?"

"Gaius?" the young prince stated, obviously surprised by the fact that he was actually there. "Where's Merlin is everything alrig…I mean he's not sick is he?"

The older man raised and eyebrow and tried to figure out why the blonde would jump to that conclusion, until it hit him.

"There's no need to worry sire, Merlin is quite alright." he answered quickly.

"Alright…" the prince seemed even more confused by this statement "Then where is he?"

"He's…" he stopped to consider what to say next for a moment, shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably. If he was honest he had no idea where his ward was, he had thought him at the prince's side as usual during any absolutely top secret dangerous "one man" missions Arthur had gone on since Merlin had arrived in Camelot.

As the uncomfortable silence continued it was now at Arthur to raise a questioning eyebrow. It was obvious that the physician was hiding something, he just didn't know what or why. "Soo…?" he inquired impatiently.

"Well it is quite an interesting story actually, Merlin is…"

"Did I hear someone calling my name?" Merlin's voice suddenly said somewhere from the back of the quarters, soon followed by a completely dust-covered raven haired boy. He looked into the round with a wide grin before he coughed once to clear his lungs from the dust. "I've just been back here dusting off the books and other stuff. I didn't expect you back already sire, I trust everything went well?"

Arthur just blinked, looking at the young boy with a very strange expression on his face before he answered curtly "Yeah…I have to go now, I have to debrief my father and the higher knights about the outcome of my mission…" and while he backed out of the room, disbelieving expression never leaving his face he added "And you" pointing at Merlin "You're back on duty tomorrow so get cleaned up and rest, there's a lot to do."

With that he disappeared, leaving two very confused men behind. After a short period of silence it was the young warlock who spoke first: "What was that about?"

Gaius just turned around to face the younger and cocked his head. "Merlin…where have you been? When you left didn't you mention something about no way you'll let Arthur risk his life alone? Now he bursts in here thinking that you're dying or worse because you didn't…what do I make of this?"

"Well he did tell me very convincingly that he didn't want to see me anywhere near him on this one…." Merlin started, blushing lightly.

"Soo…?" the physician asked

"Well I did follow him, you know that I wouldn't let him go alone. But I managed to stay undiscovered."

As the raven haired boy saw the disbelieving look the other shot him at that he scowled "Hey I can be inconspicuous if I want to."

Gaius just raised an eyebrow at that.

"Ok fine…I had Kilgarrah carry me so he wouldn't be able to spot me."

"Why?"

"Well he said…"

"Oh Merlin…"

"What? What did I do wrong this time?"

"Nothing…you did nothing wrong. You did exactly what Arthur told you to do…or at least that's what he thinks."

"Am I missing the point here Gaius?"

"Ahhh…"Gaius shook his head "just go get cleaned up Merlin I'll prepare something to eat, you must be hungry." Gaius answered.

Merlin hesitated for a moment before he shrugged and went to get himself cleaned up.

xxXxxXxxXxx

The prince was extraordinarily grumpy as he told the king and the knights about his mission and while everyone noticed no one could make sense of it. He told them about what had passed and then he excused himself rather hastily to get cleaned up.

He had not expected Sir Leon to follow him on his heels.

"Sire, I have something to tell you."

Arthur hung his head sighed, before he went to look into the knights eyes. "Speak freely Sir Leon."

"It is about your manservant. He has been behaving suspiciously during your absence."

Arthur frowned and the knight knew that he had been right about his assumption. It had not escaped him that Merlin had the tendency to be missing every time the prince was away on a supposedly secret mission. This time however the young servant had left a lot later than the prince, and they had not returned together.

"Your manservant was gone while you were on your mission sire. We do not know where he went."

"And you're sure he wasn't just doing chores for Gaius or sleeping the day away?" the prince asked, his mood changing noticeably.

"Definitely sire. He just returned a short while after you came back as well. If I would not know better I would assume he has been following you." He said carefully assessing the young royal's mood change.

The prince's face brightened and the knights who now walked out of the conference room were more than a little confused about the sudden change in their prince's demeanor. They didn't understand, but neither did they question his sudden urge to invite all of them along to take a drink together to celebrate the success of the mission which he had just shrugged off a moment ago.

xxXxxXxxXxx

In the next morning when Merlin arrived in the royal sleeping chambers he was greeted by a cheerful prince.

"Merlin so you finally decided to get here, how overly friendly of you." He chirped in a light teasing tone.

Merlin shot him a disbelieving look, placing the breakfast on the table before he walked towards the closet to get Arthur's clothes for the day.

"You are in a good mood today…?" he halfheartedly asked as he picked the red tunic along with dark leather boots and pants.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Erm…" Merlin chuckled looking at the overly positively chipper royal who was delightfully eating his breakfast. "No reason…I guess…" then he sighed remembering the half threat of a huge workload from the evening before "So…what do you want me to do today?"

"Huh?" the prince asked, obviously distracted by something in his mind which made the blonde smile.

As the emerald eyes locked on his with a questioning expression Merlin couldn't suppress a smile himself.

"What chores do you have for me today? Clean your room? Wash your clothes? Muck out your horses? Something in that area?"

"Oh that…nahh…someone else can do that."

"What?" Merlin asked slightly panicked. He wasn't going to lose his job was he?

"No need to look like a mouse that has just been spotted by a cat, you won't be able to do it because you'll accompany me. We'll check up on some of the outlying villages."

"Oh…I'll ready the horses then" Merlin smiled, relieved "Whose horses will I have to get ready aside from ours? Sir Leon's maybe?" he asked.

"Oh no, the knights will stay here. It'll just you and me. I'm actually not supposed to take "backup" on such an easy assignment."

"Erm…?" Merlin did not voice the question aloud, but Arthur heard it clear enough.

"Why I'm taking you? Easy…" he answered "You would follow me anyways, always trying to look out for me. So I might just take you along in the first place and avoid you getting into any trouble while you're stumbling through the woods alone."

Merlin looked down and blushed but then he raised his gaze again to find Arthur grinning at him. The prince moved forward and put a hand on Merlin's shoulder looking into his eyes. Merlin understood the untold message the prince was sending him and it made Merlin's smile grow even wider.

'I'm glad you're always there when I need you Merlin.' The prince would never say it out aloud, but he knew that the raven haired boy had heard it loud and clear.

'My pleasure, Arthur.' was the just as silent reply. Arthur smiled as he picked up on it.

"Well I'd never have thought that you turn out to be so protective of me. In the beginning I was sure that you would lend a hand to anyone who would try to get rid of me."

Merlin flashed him a responding teasing grin as he answered.

"If you knew…prat…"

* * *

**Story End Notes**: So…this doesn't really have a purpose…it's just a little something… anyways I hope you liked it :D

Reviews are welcome :D

Thanks, CrazyIsTheClue


End file.
